Vauss, Team Irvington Strong sweep to victory

IRVINGTON, NJ — The unofficial results are in and, to no one’s surprise, Tony Vauss has been elected mayor again. Although Vauss has been campaigning as though he faced stiff opposition, he was running unopposed. He unofficially tallied 3,377 votes, or 99.15 percent, vs. 29 write-in votes, or 0.85 percent, as of 10 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8.

His Team Irvington Strong running mates made swift work of their sole opponent. According

to the unofficial results, as of 10 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8, an hour and a half after the polls closed, with 98.33 percent of the districts reporting, Renee Burgess, October Hudley and Charnette Frederick had easy victories, garnering 2,601 votes or 31.86 percent, 2,503 votes or 30.66 percent, and 1,917 votes or 23.48 percent, respectively, en route to being re-elected at large councilwomen.

Team Irvington Strong’s only opposition for the three council seats up for grabs was Barnes Reid, an Irvington substitute teacher and Irvington High School track coach. He netted 1,122 votes, or 13.74 percent, not enough to unseat any of the incumbents.

This is only the second time an Irvington mayor has ever run for re-election unopposed. The first time was when Wayne Smith ran for re-election and Craig Stanley, who was supposed to run against him, dropped out of the race.

Originally, Vauss was to run against mayoral candidate Elouise McDaniel, but she failed to get enough petitions certified to be put on the ballot, according to Irvington Clerk Harold Wiener. Her council running mate, Allison Morris, also failed to get enough nominating petitions certified, leaving Reid, their third running mate, alone on the ticket.

All results are unofficial until certified by the Essex County Clerk Chris Durkin.